Inability to close out games puts Rockets at disadvantage against Thunder

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James Harden and the Rockets have been committing turnovers at the most inopportune junctures of playoff games. (Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle)

It only seemed that coming back from down 26 points Saturday night — as with rallying from down 15 in the fourth quarter in Oklahoma City — was the tough part. That was difficult, stunning even.

For the Rockets, the real tests and the measure of where they are compared to where they wish to be were to come.

Closing time, when teams must be their best, have been hard times — and the difference in the series as the Rockets have fallen to the brink of elimination.

“All the very good teams go through it,” Rockets guard James Harden said. “I guess this is our learning experience. We’ve done a good job of putting ourselves in position to win the games. We’re just not making the right plays to do it.

“(If) we made the right plays down the stretch in these two games it’s a different series. We could be up in the series.”

Growing pains hurt, but there is supposed to be a benefit, something to be gained from the pain. But the process appears certain to take longer than one best-of-seven playoff series.

“It’s a pretty short period of time for maturation,” coach Kevin McHale said. “It’s kind of like saying the kid goes off the bottle and starts eating cereal and he’s right there. There is a long way to go before he starts eating steak.”

Oklahoma City might have secured Saturday’s win with Kevin Durant’s fortunate-bounce, shooter’s roll 3-pointer. But late in the past two games, the Thunder execution has been composed and efficient, leading to shots they could expect to make.

The Rockets’ late-game execution has tended toward haphazard at the times it should be precise. Through 45 minutes Saturday, the Rockets committed eight turnovers. In the final three minutes, they had three turnovers, each given away.

Misfires late

In the final 5:04 of the game, beginning with the score tied, Harden went 2-of-4 from the line with two turnovers. The Rockets made three of eight shots with seven of those attempts coming from beyond the 3-point line.

In Game 2 with the game tied with 4½ minutes left, the Rockets went 3-of-9 the rest of the way, going from a four-point lead with 3:10 left to a three-point loss.

“You’ve got to find a way to win these games,” forward Chandler Parsons. “I think we are learning a lot and growing a lot right now but it is very frustrating.”

“We got to figure out how to close games. Some nights you say, it’s just turnovers, it’s just this, it’s just that. We just have to find a way to get stops and finish off games.”

The Rockets have been only slightly less effective late in close games this season than they have been overall, but in games that come down to a few possessions, that’s the difference between winning and losing.

In the final five minutes of games with neither team leading by more than five points, the Rockets ranked eighth offensively in points scored per possession, 11th in point differential.

The less time remaining and smaller the margin, the more they slip to the middle of the pack on both ends of the floor. They were sixth in overall offensive rating in the regular season, ninth in overall point differential.

Those troubles have led to a poor close-game record and a 3-0 hole.

Close, but no cigar

The Rockets went 5-8 in the regular season in games decided by three or fewer points, the margin of victory in Oklahoma City’s Games 2 and 3 wins, or that were tied after four quarters.

They won one close game in 12 April contests including the playoffs, beating the Suns at home when Jermaine O’Neal gave them a gift by goaltending James Harden’s errant 3-pointer at the buzzer.

By then, when the Rockets were in late-game, make-or-break situations, they tended to fall into isolation ballhandling and late 3-pointers, particularly in the losses to end the regular season in Phoenix and Los Angeles.

That not only dropped the Rockets to the eighth seed and a first-round matchup with the Thunder, it gave away chances to develop the sort of late-game execution needed to close out wins, particular in the postseason when pressure rises and defenses tighten.

The Thunder developed that in part through eight playoff series in the past three seasons. Having seen that up close, the Rockets have been left with a clear picture of how far they have to go, and what must be done to get there.

“We had a lead late in the second game,” McHale said. “We had a lead late in the third game. We just have to finish those off.

“The last couple games we put ourselves in position to win. Now, we have to come out tomorrow night and not put ourselves in position to win, but put ourselves over the top.”